FDS releases 23-country study on workers' attitudes to work and work life-balance

WHINGING UK WORKERS ‘SECOND ONLY TO FRENCH’

BRITS NEAR TOP OF WORKPLACE WHINGE RATINGS WHILE IRISH COME BOTTOM IN MAJOR NEW REPORT

Britain’s workers have come joint second in a league table of worldwide workplace WHINGERS, according to a major new report published today (Monday May 14).

The table, which features in a new study comparing work attitudes in 23 countries across the globe, puts the UK equal second, alongside Sweden, in overall ‘whinginess’ rank, with France in the top spot. The three countries with the least amount of work whinging are The Netherlands, Thailand and - and the least whingy - Ireland.

The findings appear in the report ‘What Workers Want: A Worldwide Study of Attitudes to Work and Work-Life Balance’, by FDS International, and is the result of major research involving nearly 14,000 employees in 23 countries across the world.

The Work Whinging findings are based on a number of factors, including percentage of workers unhappy with pay, actual income relative to cost of living, percentage of workers who feel work impinges on private life, and average weekly working hours.

The Top 10 ‘Most Demanding’ – or overall ‘whinginess’ rank – workers are: 1 France, =2 UK, =2 Sweden, 4 USA, =5 Australia, =5 Portugal, =7 Canada, =7 Greece, 9 Poland, =10 Germany, =10 Spain (see full table).

Other findings in the FDS International report include:

• Over a third of Brits (37%) feel they don’t get enough holidays – the highest percentage in Europe, putting them at No.1 in the Holiday Whinge rankings
• Brits enjoy an average of 33.5 days annual leave and public holidays – but despite having less holidays (the equivalent of just 29 days holiday a year), only 13 per cent of workers in Ireland whinge about their lack of holidays.
• More than a fifth of British workers also believe that having to care for children, the time it takes to commute to work and not enjoying the work they do are issues for them in the workplace
• The LEAST whinging workers are the Dutch, where just eight per cent feel they don’t get enough holidays
• When it comes to Pay, 40 per cent of Brits are dissatisfied with their wage packet, compared to 61 per cent in Russian (the highest), 43 per cent in China, 38 per cent in the USA, 33 per cent in Germany and just 15 per cent – the joint lowest – in both Ireland and the Netherlands

Charlotte Cornish, managing director of FDS, said: ‘After the French, British employees are the most likely to be dissatisfied with their work situation, despite their relative good fortune.

‘It’s also interesting to note that after France, Britain and Sweden, the world’s biggest workplace whingers are Americans, despite their having by far the highest levels of income relative to their cost of living. Compare them to Thai workers: while real levels of income are more eight times higher in the States, more workers in the US feel their pay is a problem than in Thailand.’

The study concludes: ‘Workers in the UK come second overall, alongside Sweden, in our global “demanding workers” league table. As with the US, it is relatively high levels of dissatisfaction with pay despite what is, in global terms, a very good standard of living, that accounts for this.’

The report also reveals that in terms of employee morale, the Netherlands comes top, with Thai and Irish worker tying for second place. Japanese workers, on the other hand, have the lowest morale, followed by the Germans.

Charlotte Cornish of FDS added: ‘The UK and US with their marked competitive individualism and unequal wealth distribution, both appear towards the top of the world’s list of whingiest workers: but the French already come out on top – it seems unlikely that Nicolas Sarkozy’s election and the likely shift to more Anglo Saxon economic practices will make the workers in France any more happy with their lot.’

For more information, visit www.fds.co.uk.

Sample: 13,832 employees, aged 18+, in 23 countries across the world. The research was conducted by members of IriS, the global research group, of which FDS International is the UK member.